Part Two: The Increasing Isolation of Israel

Introduction:

“Let us be like all the
nations.” These words of
Jacob Klaztkin, a
leading Zionist activist
and editor, became a
major motto of the World
Zionist Organization. As
we discussed, this
desire to become like
all the nations caused
the major leaders of
this organization to
reject the traditional
belief that we are a
nation with a unique
spiritual identity which
is defined by the Torah,
the Divine Teaching.
Their desire to become
like all the nations,
however, is not a new
desire. For example,
this desire was
expressed by leaders of
our people in the
generation of the
Prophet Ezekiel, and the
Prophet conveyed to them
the following Divine
response:

“As for what enters your
minds, it shall not be –
that you say. ‘We will
be like the nations,
like the families of the
lands’ ” (Ezekiel
20:32).

In this letter, we will
discuss sources within
our tradition which
reveal why the One Who
is guiding us to our
ultimate destiny
responded to the desire
to be like all the
nations by saying, “it
shall not be!”

Dear Friends,

The Torah reveals that
our existence as a
separate people within
our own land has a
universal and spiritual
goal; moreover, the
Prophets of Israel
elaborate on this idea.
One of the beautiful
references to this
universal goal is found
in the following Divine
message which the
Prophet Isaiah conveyed
to our people:

“Thus said the God,
Hashem, Who created the
heavens and stretched
them forth; Who firmed
the earth and its
produce, Who gave a soul
to the people upon it,
and a spirit to those
who walk on it. I am
Hashem; I have called
you on behalf of
righteousness; I will
strengthen your hand,
and I will preserve you;
I will set you as a
covenant for the people,
as a light for the
nations.” (Isaiah
42:5,6)

“I will set you as a
covenant for the people”
– for the existence of
the earth’s peoples, as
the Hebrew word for
“covenant” – bris –
is an expression of
existence (commentary of
Radak).

Radak explains that the
goal of becoming a
covenant for the
existence of the
peoples, as well as
becoming a light for the
nations, will be fully
achieved in the age when
“Torah will go forth
from Zion” (Isaiah 2:3).
The nations will then
“beat their swords into
plowshares” (Isaiah
2:4). In addition, says
Radak, Israel will
inspire the nations to
fulfill the universal
life-giving path within
the Torah which applies
to all humankind, which
is why the nations will
say:

“Come, let us go up to
the Mountain of Hashem,
to the Temple of the God
of Jacob, and He will
teach us of His ways and
we will walk in His
paths” (Isaiah 2:3).

The above Divine promise
regarding the universal
goal of our history is
actually an elaboration
of the early Divine
promises within the
Torah which state that
we are to become a
source of blessing for
“all the families of the
earth” – a biblical term
for the earth’s peoples.
For example, Hashem told
Jacob, our father:

“All the families of the
earth will be blessed
through you and your
offspring” (Genesis
28:14).

If our people exist for
the benefit of the
world, then the loss of
our people’s unique
identity through
assimilation would be a
loss to the world. This
is a reason why just
before Hashem told us,
“I will set you as a
covenant for the people,
as a light for the
nations,” He said, “I
will preserve you” – a
promise that He will not
allow us to totally
disappear through
destruction or
assimilation, for we
exist for the sake of
the world. In this
spirit, we will discuss
sources within our
spiritual tradition
which reveal that the
Guardian of Israel will
intervene in order to
protect our people from
assimilation among the
nations. We will begin
with an example from the
story of our exile in
Egypt:

Our father, Jacob, was
given the additional
name, “Israel” (Genesis
35:10); thus, his
descendants became known
as the Children of
Israel. When Israel and
his family descended
into Egypt, they were
given the region of
Goshen as their separate
area of settlement
(Genesis 45:10). Egypt
was a decadent,
oppressive society that
worshiped the gods of
power, lust, and wealth;
however, the Children of
Israel were to maintain
their separate identity
in Goshen and thereby
fulfill the mission
which was passed down to
them by their righteous
ancestors – “to keep the
way of Hashem through
engaging in acts of
righteousness and
justice” (Genesis
18:19).

As the years went by,
many of the Children of
Israel became attracted
to the pagan culture of
the Egyptians. They
began to wander all over
Egypt, and the Torah
records, “and the land
became full of them”
(Exodus 1:7). The Torah
then describes how the
Children of Israel
became enslaved.

The Midrash Rabbah (1:8)
explains that before
they became enslaved,
they said to one
another, “Let us be like
the Egyptians!” The
Midrash notes that the
desire to be like the
Egyptians caused them to
neglect the mitzvah of
circumcision. As a
result of this trend
towards assimilation,
states the Midrash, the
Holy One transformed the
love that the Egyptians
originally had for the
Children of Israel into
a hatred of the Children
of Israel. The Midrash
mentions that a source
for this explanation can
be found in the
following passage from
Psalm 105:

“Then Israel came to
Egypt and Jacob
sojourned in the land of
Ham...He turned their
hearts to hate His
nation, to plot against
His servants” (Psalm
105: 23,25).

Rabbi Yosef Dov
Soloveitchik was a
leading sage of the late
19th century,
and he discusses the
above passage from Psalm
105 in his commentary on
the opening section of
the Book of Exodus (Beis
Halevi, Parshas Shmos).
He explains that since
our people were
beginning to assimilate
among the Egyptians,
Hashem caused the hearts
of the Egyptians to hate
us, in order to preserve
our separate identity.
He points out that
whenever we try to
assimilate among the
nations, Hashem will
intervene to preserve
our separate identity by
arousing hatred against
us.

An example of this
metaphysical phenomenon
can be found in the
following development
which took place in 19th
century Germany. During
this century, a strong
movement of assimilation
began to take place
among the Jews of
Germany, and many of
them began to proclaim,
“Berlin is our
Jerusalem!” Some of them
even converted to
Christianity. These Jews
thought that when they
became like the Germans,
they would escape the
traditional European
hatred of the Jews;
however, soon after the
movement of assimilation
began, a new movement of
anti-Jewish hatred
began, and Wilhelm Marr,
a leading German
thinker, referred to
this development as
“anti-Semitism” – a new
term to describe a
modern version of the
old hatred. According to
the modern anti-Semite,
even an assimilated Jew
is a threat to the
Gentiles because the Jew
cannot escape his true
identity. For example, a
leading anti-Semitic
German thinker, Karl
Eugen Duehring, wrote in
1881:

“The Jewish question
would still exist even
if every Jew were to
turn his back on his
religion and join one of
our major churches. Yes,
I maintain that in that
case the struggle
between us and the Jews
would make itself felt
even more urgent. It is
precisely the baptized
Jew who infiltrates
furthermost, unhindered
in all sectors of
society and political
life.” (The Question
of the Jew is a Question
of Race.)

During this period, Rav
Samson Raphael Hirsch, a
leading Torah sage,
began a movement of
Jewish renewal in
Germany which inspired
thousands of Jews to
return to the path of
the Torah. Rav Hirsch
had a deep understanding
of the metaphysical
nature of Jewish
survival, and he
therefore warned his
brethren that the desire
to assimilate among the
nations will not bring
them a secure future.
For example, in a Purim
essay addressed to the
assimilated Jews of his
generation, he wrote:

“O, you deluded ones!
Look at the society
which is now freely open
to you. Look around on
the great marketplace of
life. Has the race of
the Haman died out
completely with his ten
sons? Could you not find
someone from the Rhine
to the Oder, from the
Volga to the Danube who
is capable of being his
successor? Be sober and
observe. Indeed, the
horizon of the Jew may
well become somber;
sultry clouds hang in
the German sky. Even in
our own Jewish circles
indications for gloom
are apparent. No one is
secure.” (Collected
Writings, Vol 8, pages
246-47)

As we discussed in this
series, major leaders of
the World Zionist
Organization wanted our
people to become in the
Land of Zion a nation
like all the nations – a
desire which caused many
members of this
organization to abandon
the unique spiritual
culture of our nation.
Through this process of
assimilation, these
Zionist leaders
developed a secular
Israeli society which
“imitates” all the
nations, and we cited in
our series various
examples of this
development. We also
discussed how some
secular Zionist thinkers
within the State of
Israel became concerned
about this development.
For example, we cited
the following lament of
a noted Israeli secular
thinker, Hillel Halkin,
regarding the trend
towards assimilation
within Israeli society:

“We have developed a
society whose one demand
from everything, from a
philosophical idea to
the label of a product
on a shelf, is that it
bear the seal of that
outside world that we
have appointed the
arbiter of our values
and tastes, as paupers
once indentured
themselves to a master
when they could no
longer earn their own
bread to eat.” (Letters
to an American Jewish
Friend, Letter 5)

As we mentioned in Part
1 of this letter, Herzl
and his followers
believed that through
becoming a nation like
all the nations in the
Land of Zion, the
problem of anti-Semitism
would be quickly solved.
We now realize that they
were mistaken, for the
state that their
organization established
has become a major cause
of the current renewal
of anti-Semitism. The
teachings that we have
cited in this letter can
help us to understand
this phenomenon. These
teachings reveal that
our nation has a
metaphysical existence
due to the Divine
mission that was
assigned to us;
moreover, it is this
mission that defines our
unique national
identity. When we are in
danger of losing our
unique identity, the One
Who guides human history
will arouse the nations
against us, and this
opposition is to serve
as a Divine wake-up call
to preserve our unique
identity.

This Divine intervention
to preserve our identity
is not just for our
sake; it is also for the
sake of the nations, for
our nation is to become
a model Torah society
which will serve as a
light to the nations.
The preservation of our
identity will therefore
lead to the fulfillment
of the following
prophecy regarding our
role in Zion at the dawn
of the messianic age:

“Arise! Shine! – For
your light has arrived,
and the glory of Hashem
shines upon you. For,
behold, darkness shall
cover the earth and a
dense cloud the
kingdoms; but upon you,
Hashem will shine, and
His glory shall be seen
upon you. Nations will
go by your light; and
sovereigns by the glow
of your dawn.” (Isaiah
60:1-3)

May you be blessed with
a good and strengthening
Shabbos.

And may you be blessed
with a “Chodesh Tov” – a
Good Month.

Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
(See below)

Related Comments:

1. At the beginning of
this week, you received
the letter titled,
“Understanding the terms
“Zionism” and “Zionist.”
The ideas in this
previous letter,
including the retort of
Rav Yosef Chaim
Sonnenfeld to the sheik
that was hostile to
Zionists, can contribute
to a deeper
understanding of the
ideas that we have begun
to discuss.

2. With the help of
Hashem, we will discuss
in the next letter
another spiritual cause
for anti-Semitism. We
will also discuss Torah
teachings which reveal
the ways to bring an end
to anti-Semitism, so
that we can experience
the birth of the
messianic age of
universal enlightenment
and shalom.